Opera Scotland

Mavra 2002Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD)

This was a superbly stylish and contrasting triple-bill of 20th century classics - Mavra, Riders to the Sea and Gianni Schicchi. The Stravinsky had not appeared in Scotland since the British premiere performances at the 1956 Edinburgh Festival, when it had been slightly upstaged by its pairing of Oedipus Rex. Here its postcard bright designs and deeply serious (therefore entirely frivolous) performing style got the evening off to a flying start.